Directions

2. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Ina medium bowl, combine with apple and cornbread crumbs. Mix together to make dressing (if necessary, add a little water to moisten).

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

4. Fill the duck's cavity with dressing, and sew shut with kitchen twine. Rub outside of bird lightly with olive oil, and place in a shallow roasting pan or 9x13 inch baking dish.

Directions

2. In a small bowl mix together the basil, ginger and salt and sprinkle mixture on inside and outside of duck. Stuff duck with orange quarters and lay in roaster. Add water.

3. In a small saucepan combine the honey, butter, lemon juice and orange juice concentrate. Simmer together over low heat until syrupy; pour a little of the mixture over the duck, saving the rest for basting. Cover roaster.

4. Bake/roast ducks in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn duck breast down, reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and roast covered for another 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until very tender. If desired, turn duck breast up during last few minutes of cooking, to brown.

Directions:

Heat the roaster or casserole over moderate heat and cook the bacon, stirring and turning it frequently, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Set the pan with bacon fat aside for a few moments.

Cut the rabbit into serving pieces. Cut away and discard the belly meat.

Add the salt, pepper, and flour to a brown paper bag. Add a few rabbit pieces to the bag and shake to coat with flour mixture; repeat with remaining rabbit pieces.

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Heat the reserved bacon fat in the pan over high heat until it sputters.

Brown the rabbit pieces on all sides, in batches; this should take about 10 minutes. Transfer them to aserving plate.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoon of fat and cook the onions in it until they are soft and translucent. Pour in the vinegar and chicken stock and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, scraping up any browned bits clinging to the bottom and sides of the pan.

Return the rabbit with juices to the roaster or casserole. Add the drained bacon. Cover the vessel tightly, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until the rabbits are tender but not falling apart.

Serve the rabbit directly from the roaster or casserole, or arrange the pieces attractively on a heated platter.

Roasted Guinea Hen

Ingredients

· 1 guinea hen, about 4 pounds, rinsed and patted dry (if you have the time, place on a baking rack, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 24 hours)

· 4 teaspoons olive oil

· 3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

· 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

· 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

· 3 cloves garlic, skin left on and lightly crushed

· 1 cup chicken broth

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the guinea hen in an iron skillet large enough for it to fit or in a heavy roasting dish. (Enameled cast iron is best.) Using your hands, rub 2 teaspoons of the olive oil all over the bird, inside and out. Season again all over with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with thyme leaves. Scatter the garlic cloves around the pan.

Place in the oven and roast 15 minutes. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and roast, basting every 10 minutes with pan drippings, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 160 degrees; this should take 40 to 50 minutes.

Remove the hen from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Drain excess fat (leaving some!) from the pan and place over medium-high heat. Pour in the chicken broth. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the pan drippings and bring to a boil. Reduce until the sauce is syrupy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut the hen into 6 pieces and pour the juices from the cutting board back into the sauce. Serve on a platter and pass the sauce with a big spoon.

Remove excess fat from cavities and necks, then rinse hens and pat dry. Run your finger between skin and flesh of breast and legs of each hen to loosen skin (outsides of thighs are easier to access from neck end). Push mustard butter under skin and massage skin from outside to spread butter evenly over breast and legs. Season hens inside and out with salt and pepper and put half of herb stems in cavity of each bird. Tie legs together with kitchen string and close cavity with toothpicks.

Brush melted butter over hens.

Roast hens:Remove roasting pan from oven and add oil, tilting to coat. Put hens in pan, breast sides up, and scatter potatoes and shallots around them. Roast hens, basting every 10 minutes with a brush and turning vegetables, 30 minutes. Scatter reserved garlic and thyme leaves around hens and roast, basting frequently and turning vegetables, until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh (without touching bone) registers 170°F and vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes more (30 to 40 minutes more for chickens). Discard string and toothpicks from hens and transfer hens to a platter. Surround with vegetables and keep warm, loosely covered, while making sauce.

Make sauce:Skim fat from pan juices and add chicken broth, then deglaze by boiling, scraping up brown bits, until reduced to about 1/2 cup. Pour sauce through a sieve into a sauceboat and stir in reserved tablespoon mustard butter with salt and pepper to taste.

Chop tarragon and parsley leaves and scatter over hens and vegetables. Serve with sauce.

Cooks' notes:•Garlic and potatoes can be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled, covered (peel potatoes before chilling).

•Mustard butter can be prepared 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.

Directions

In a large Dutch oven, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper. Dredge the rabbit pieces in the flour and shake off any excess. Add the rabbit pieces to the pan and cook until the rabbit is golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the rabbit to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium; add the remaining olive oil, onions, carrots and celery and cook until vegetables are caramelized, stirring occasionally, usually about 50 minutes. It's important to caramelize the vegetables slowly; this is the basis of the sauce. Add the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, crushed red pepper and oregano, and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Add the rabbit pieces back to the pan along with the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until rabbit is very tender, 45 to 55 minutes.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Remove and drain the pasta.

Toss pasta with a bit of olive oil and salt, to taste. In a large mixing bowl, toss the pasta with the rabbit ragout. Season with salt and mix well. Mound onto serving plates and garnish with fresh Parmesan.

Note: For an alternative presentation, if desired, once the rabbit is tender, rabbit pieces may be removed from the sauce and meat pulled from the bones and returned to the sauce.

Directions

Put the Asian shallots, galangal, lemongrass, lemon leaves, sesame seeds, chile powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, fish sauce, and honey in a large mixing bowl and mix together well. Add the chicken, rubbing the marinade over and under its skin. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours, or overnight for a better result.

Heat a barbecue grill or char grill pan to medium-high heat.

Add the chicken and cook for 15 minutes for each side. Once cooked, place the chicken on a cutting board, skin-side up, and chop the leg and breast into a total of eight pieces with a heavy cleaver. Serve the chicken on a platter with some jasmine rice.